Nova Scotia Highway 102
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| Highway 102 |
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| Length: | 100 km[citation needed] (62 mi) | ||||||||
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| South end: | Halifax | ||||||||
| Major junctions: |
 Hwy 101 in Bedford Hwy 118 to Dartmouth |
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| North end: |  Hwy 104 (TCH) in Onslow |
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Highway 102 is a north-south freeway in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that runs from Halifax to Onslow, near Truro. It is the busiest highway in Atlantic Canada.
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[edit] Route description
The highway follows a 100 kilometre (62 mile) route through the central part of the province linking Highway 103, Highway 101, and Highway 118 to Highway 104, the Trans-Canada Highway. The entire highway is a divided 4-lane freeway, with the exception of a short 5-lane (3 lanes northbound) section between the Highway 118 interchange at Miller Lake and the Halifax International Airport at Enfield.
[edit] Development
The highway parallels the route of its predecessor, Trunk 2, and was developed in stages from the 1950s to the 1980s. Initially, some sections were controlled access 2-lane, as well as 4-lane. The route has also changed somewhat, particularly during the early 1980s when the last part to be constructed resulted in the bypass of Shubenacadie and Stewiacke through to Truro.
The initial speed limit on the highway was 100 km/h (60 mph) until this was raised to 110 km/h (70 mph) for the section north of the interchange with Highway 118. South of Highway 118, the highway retains its original 100 km/h speed limit.
From the 1970s to the early 1990s, Highway 102 was actively patrolled by the RCMP using aerial surveillance for speed limit violations. The aerial surveillance program was restarted in 2005.
[edit] Congestion
Traffic volumes on Highway 102 between Highway 101 and Bayers Road are in excess of 32,000 vehicles per day, and recent information claims capacity in this stretch is only at about 40%.[citation needed] Many motorists still prefer using the older 2-lane Bedford Highway (Trunk 2), which in comparison has volumes of over 40,000 vpd and operates at 100% capacity through much of its length.
[edit] Access on the Halifax Peninsula
The 4-lane divided freeway portion of Highway 102 ends at Bayers Road in the west end of the city. As a result, some streets on the Halifax Peninsula are signed with Highway 102 directional markers, with the word "INBOUND" or "OUTBOUND", to mark the route into the downtown core, these streets are not officially part of Highway 102.[citation needed]
Access with Highway 111 is provided on Connaught Avenue north from Bayers Road and the Windsor Street Exchange to the A. Murray MacKay Bridge.
[edit] Inbound
The "inbound" route markers are posted east on Bayers Road, south on Connaught Avenue, east on Quinpool Road, south on Bell Road, then east on Sackville Street to the intersection with Lower Water Street.
[edit] Outbound
The "outbound" markers are posted beginning north on Lower Water Street, west on Cogswell Street, west on Quinpool Road, north on Connaught Avenue, west on Bayers Road.
[edit] Other facts
- Portions of Highway 102 near Halifax pass through several micro climates and are notorious for frequent variations in visibility due to fog caused by elevation changes.
- In 2002 the highway was redesignated as Veteran's Memorial Highway while also maintaining its numerical designation.
- The original portion of the highway from Bayers Road to Bedford dates to 1949, the bicentennial year of the founding of Halifax (1749); as such, it is the oldest section of controlled access highway in Atlantic Canada. This portion of the highway is officially named Bicentennial Drive, although many local residents incorrectly refer to it as the "Bicentennial Highway", often shortened to "Bi-Hi".
- The highway serves as a "B-Train" route between Halifax and the rest of the Atlantic Provinces .
[edit] Communities served
Communities served along the highway include, from south to north:
- Halifax (the former city)
- Fairview
- Clayton Park
- Rockingham
- Bedford
- Lower Sackville
- Fall River
- Halifax International Airport
- Enfield
- Elmsdale
- Shubenacadie
- Stewiacke
- Brookfield
- Millbrook First Nation
- Truro
- Onslow
[edit] Interchanges from South to North
| Location | Exit Number | Kilometre Post* | Intersecting Roads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax RM (Halifax) | 0 | 0 | Joseph Howe Drive |
| Halifax RM | 1D | 1 | Northwest Arm Drive , Dunbrack Street |
| Halifax RM | 1A | 2 |  Highway 103 Lighthouse Route[1] |
| Halifax RM | 2A | 4 | Lacewood Drive , Bayers Lake |
| Halifax RM | 2 | 7 | Kearney Lake Road |
| Halifax RM (Bedford) | (none) | 11 |  Highway 113 (proposed freeway) |
| Halifax RM (Bedford) | 3 | 12 | Hammonds Plains Road (Route 213) |
| Halifax RM (Bedford) | 4A/B | 16 |  Highway 101 / Bedford Highway (Trunk 1/Evangeline Trail)(Lower Sackville)[2] |
| Halifax RM (Lower Sackville) | 4C | 17 | Duke Street / Glendale Avenue |
| Halifax RM (Waverley) | 5 | 24 |  Trunk 2 /  Highway 118 (northbound)[3] |
| Halifax RM (Waverley) | 5 | 25 | Highway 118 (southbound only)[4] |
| Halifax RM | 5A | 31 | Aerotech Drive (Route 212)[5] |
| Halifax RM | 6 | 34 | Halifax International Airport |
| Halifax RM (Enfield) | 7 | 40 | Trunk 2 |
| Elmsdale | 8 | 47 | Route 214 |
| Milford | 9 | 57 |  Trunk 14 / Route 224[6] |
| Shubenacadie | 10 | 64 | Route 215 |
| Stewiacke | 11 | 70 | Trunk 2 |
| Brookfield | 12 | 84 | Route 289 |
| Millbrook First Nation | 13A | 93 | Treaty Trail / Tower Road |
| Truro | 13 | 95 | Truro Heights Road |
| Truro | 14 | 97 | Trunk 2 South / Route 236 (Robie Street) Glooscap Trail |
| Onslow | 14A | 98 | Trunk 2 North (northbound only) (Glooscap Trail) |
| Onslow | 15W/15E | 99 | Highway 104 |
- *Exit numbers in Nova Scotia are sequential.
[edit] References
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
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